Caitlin Clark and head coach Stephanie White are just fine.
Clark shut down any speculation about her relationship with the Indiana Fever head coach on Monday, just days after she had a heated exchange with her during the team’s 100-84 loss with the Portland Fire.
“First of all, [it’s] two people being competitive, two people that really want to win,” Clark said of the moment, via WISH-TV.
“I think a lot of those things happen all the time … I ride for Steph. I ride for these girls. Steph has my back more than anybody.”
During the Fever’s loss to Portland on Saturday, Clark and White were spotted having an animated discussion on the bench during a timeout. It’s not clear exactly what was said between the two, but Clark stood up at one point and walked behind White and shook her head.
Clark had six points and six assists in that contest while shooting just 1-of-7 from the field. The former Iowa star, now in her third season in the league, has averaged 20.1 points and 8.1 assists per game this summer. The loss at the Moda Center dropped the Fever to 4-4 on the season.
While it was quick, that moment between Clark and White led to plenty of speculation surrounding White’s future with the Fever. Longtime analyst Skip Bayless even falsely posted on social media that White, who is in the middle of her second season with the franchise, had been fired.
But the exchange and everything that followed, Clark said, has been completely overblown.
“I know there’s a camera on me, and that’s how it’s going to be,” Clark said. “But there’s a lot of people out there in the media or on TV that think they know a lot of things, and they’re just blatantly wrong about a lot of things … Nobody in our locker room or Steph or our coaching staff thought twice about it.
“It’s just another example of what everybody, all of you, want to blow up and make something that is just not in reality.”